2 Timothy 1:3-7 3 I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Paul and the ministry of Remembrance:

Paul remembered Timothy constantly, day and night, in prayer. Timothy needed it … big-time. Who are you remember day and night in prayer? Do you have someone lifting you up constantly?

Paul remembered Timothy’s pain (“tears”) that filled him with longing to see Timothy that he might comfort him. Notice, to comfort Timothy would bring Paul great joy. How selfish of Paul, right? Not at all. Paul so hurt for Timothy that he wanted his own pain to stop in the healing of Timothy. I hope there are selfish people like that all around me.

Paul remembered Timothy’s sincere faith, as well as Timothy’s mom’s and grandma’s. But Timothy had his own faith. It was a sincere faith. Perhaps Timothy was doubting now and Paul reminds Timothy. He can still see Timothy in faithful service to the Lord. He still hears Timothy’s prayers. He knows Timothy believes even if Timothy now doubts. Don’t you need to remind someone of God’s work in their life? Don’t you need others to identify evidences of grace in your life?

Paul reminds Timothy to preach the Word. It was his gift. It was recognized by Paul (and others). Timothy needed to stoke the embers and preach with fire. He was afraid. And Paul reminds him of what he has – a spirit of power and love and self-control, not of fear. And there’s a connection between a sincere faith and the proclamation of the gospel. It is a sincere faith that fires the pulpit. Without it, Timothy will not preach in the faith of opposition or he will not preach it rightly. Pray for your pastors and preachers to have a sincere faith!

Paul told Timothy, “… from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15)

B. B. Warfield wrote that God did not inspire the Scriptures merely to make us wise but to do so unto salvation. It is curious thing to see the Bible used as such so often, as a self-help guide for insightful advice on raising kids to obtaining wealth. I am sure the Bible does provide sagacious words to fill the foolish or clueless mind. And judging by the looks of things in this world and in my own life, we could use all the help we could get. But I also know that Satan would love for you to raise your children according to sound principles or work your job according to the Scriptures, so long as Christ was not at the center of it. I don’t think the devil minds if you read your Bible to become wise, so long as you don’t do so unto salvation in Christ. I think this is what the Pharisees did so well. They searched the Scriptures but could not see that they testified unto Christ. I don’t think it would be a good idea to make the same mistake.

Again, here’s the deep, gut-level truth . Anything canpull us away, things like making a living, a house (got to fill it and fix it), a car (got to take care of it), a TV, a computer, a sport, a hobby, a game, a class, our kids, our spouses, all of these things are not bad and can be blessings and are to be used for God’s glory. But the problem is that all of those things demand time and energy and focus and they can actually be things we adore more than God. And when one of those things becomes the main thing then it becomes a bad thing.

Friends, our distractions that keep us from God and His Word can be bad things, good things, or neutral things. I don’t know what is distracting you. But I do know this, whatever it is, to you, it seems like an important thing, an urgent thing. Remember what I said about the Levite and Priest who did not help the man in the ditch. We don’t know why they did not help and we could speculate. But we do know this: whatever the reason for not helping, it seemed like a good reason at the time. It usually, if not always, does. Beloved, what ends up happening is that all these things that pull us away from God and His Word, appear bigger than they are – bigger and better than Jesus – or you could say they seem more urgent.

Now, there are legitimate reasons for not gathering on Sunday for church or doing your personal reading of the Bible that day or missing a time of study or worship at the church, but here’s the thing that concerns me. Our list of legitimate reasons just keeps getting longer and longer and longer with every new device, and every new event, and every new sporting opportunity, and every new extra-curricular activity for your child, and every new whatever; and things that our grandparents or great-grandparents would have never called “legitimate,” we call “legitimate.” I do know that. I do know that one “busy season” just seems to give way to another “busy season.”

Friends, my desire this morning is to inject some sobering reality into our lives, because I just sense we live in such an age of distraction, an age that pulls and pulls us away from God and His Word. And think about those distractions. Beloved, do you and I understand that most of the things that distract us, that we pursue so ardently, we cannot call necessary. Jesus said to Martha, “Only one thing is necessary.”

As J. C. Ryle said: “One thing is needful.” How true that saying! The longer we live in the world, the more true it will appear. The nearer we come to the grave, the more thoroughly we shall [know this]. Health, and money, and lands, and rank, and honors, and prosperity, are all well in their way. But they cannot be called needful. Without them thousands are happy in this world, and reach glory in the world to come.”

When will we learn that all the things that we let pull us away from God and His Word, 75% of Christians in this world, do not have, and they are just as happy as us, if not more so, and more importantly, they will walk into glory just as much as you and I will. I ask you then, is it worth it to let those things pull us away from the one thing that Jesus said is necessary?

Here’s a blog post by Ryan Kelley from the Gospel Coalition website. [BTW, I really encourage you to subscribe to their email updates.]

How’s Your Bible Reading Going?

January has come and gone. A little more than 8 percent of 2013 has already passed. Now is an especially good time to ask ourselves (and each other!) how our personal Bible reading is going. Many of us began a new Bible reading plan on January 1. Such plans can be helpful. You should try one. They can help you to be more consistent in your Bible reading; they can help to get you into a steady, daily diet of the Word; they can help you get through whole books and into previously unexplored parts of the Bible over the course of the year. It’s never a bad time to get going on one or get back on one.

Regardless of your Bible reading plan (or lack thereof), you probably had a general desire for your Bible reading to be better in 2013 than it was in 2012—to read more, to read more consistently, to read more thoughtfully, to read more passionately, and/or to better apply it to our daily life. So how’s it going?

Maybe so far in 2013 your Bible reading hasn’t gone according to plan; it hasn’t increased or improved as you’d hoped. Let me suggest several possible reasons why Bible reading might feel weak and wearisome, and suggest some ways in which those weaknesses might be helped.

Maybe you’re using a plan that assigns texts to specific dates. Falling behind means you’re now on the wrong date. So you leave the Bible alone and decide to straighten or alphabetize something. Don’t! Just keep going. Or switch to a reading plan that doesn’t use dates. Remember, Bible reading plans were made for Bible reading; Bible reading was not made for Bible reading plans.

Maybe you’ve become accustomed to not eating.

If we fast from food for a few days our bodies become accustomed to not eating. The Bible is likened to food more than once (e.g., 1 Peter 2:2). We need it for our spiritual survival and sustenance. But if it’s been a long time since you’ve had a steady diet of the Word, your spiritual stomach has shrunk and become indifferent to spiritual nourishment. This isn’t healthy, and it can’t go on indefinitely. So resolve to nurse yourself back to health even if you have to start small.

Related, maybe your new reading plan is too rigorous, at least for now.

Whether you have a spiritual appetite or not, you may have bitten off a bit more than you can chew. Going from a random verse for the day to the McCheyne Reading Plan is a step in the right direction, but if you’re not keeping up with McCheyne, you might try doing it at half or one-fourth of the pace.

It’s good to keep track of progress no matter the discipline. But if you’re reading the Bible only to feel better about yourself or appease God then a checklist can be dangerous. Go to the Bible to get more of God, not to get more gold stars. Go to the Bible to get your soul happy in God, not satisfied in yourself.

Maybe you’re paralyzed with guilt for having done poorly yesterday.

Have you ever felt unworthy to pray or open the Bible? I have. How ironic when it’s a book about and for sinners who need grace. We need the Bible most when we’ve read and obeyed it the least. Confess your sin boldly and in faith open your Bible to find comfort. Soak yourself afresh in the gospel.

Here’s where another discipline should be partnered with Bible reading: preaching to yourself about what the Bible is, what it does, and why you need it. Psalm 119 is basically 176 verses of this encouragement. When the Bible feels stale and our reading feels empty, go to Psalm 119. Pray to God and preach to yourself about the need to feel the weight and worth of God’s Word in our lives.

Maybe you have false expectations about the work and discipline of Bible reading.

Are you under the mistaken impression that Bible reading is easy and glorious if you’re spiritual enough? Remember, Paul told Timothy, “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7). It is not unspiritual to do what the flesh resists. Determination, resolve, and self-discipline are necessary for even the most consistent and experienced Bible-readers.

Maybe you have too high of expectations for this season of life.

Perhaps you’re a mom of a few tots. Before children, your times of Bible reading and praying were sweet, slow, and steady. Praise God for those seasons! But you’re not in one of them now. Do what you can, starting with reading this new mom’s testimony and this good advice from Don Whitney.

Maybe you’re in a part of Scripture right now that is new and unfamiliar to you.

Maybe you don’t understand the “big picture” of the story. The Bible is a big book; it is a long, multi-millennia story, each part building upon and pointing to others. Maybe you didn’t grow up in church hearing the stories of the Old Testament. Then again, many of us grew up in church hearing the stories but still have no idea in what order they go or if it even matters. A little book, God’s Big Picture, is helpful in laying out, well, the big pictureof the Bible. Read it alongside your Bible plan.

Maybe you find yourself all too often scratching your head wondering what a word or phrase means.

If so, get something like the ESV Study Bible. Look down in the footnotes when you need some help. Go to the back for a longer explanation about a biblical or theological concept. Or check out this article that recommends other resources for interpreting the Bible.

Maybe you haven’t found a consistent time or place to do Bible reading and prayer.

Habits form much more easily with consistency. In our busy culture, consistency has to be planned. Chances are, there are some bad times of the day for you to try to read and pray. Chances are, there some good and some bad places in your home for Bible reading. Find the best spot at the best time and keep to it. By God’s grace, in time, it will become a sweet, familiar place and time for you to meet with the Lord.

Healthy Bible intake seeks to bring the Bible to the whole of life. No matter how consistent our schedule, if our thoughts about the Bible are separated by 23 or more hours, we will not use our “swords” like we should. Here’s a practical recommendation: No matter the amount of Bible you read in your “quiet time,” take one verse, something that stood out to you, and write it on a 3×5 card or sticky tab. Put it in your pocket, on your desk, or on your dash. Several times per day look at it, say it, think on it, pray it back to God. If the Bible is like food and eating, remember, snacks are good!

Maybe this part of your life is actually too personal.

Do you have anyone in your life who will ask you how it’s going and what you’ve been reading? If not, seek one out. Find someone and read the Bible together. Find a more mature friend who can help you with how to read and understand the Bible.

I could go on and on with possible diagnoses for the shortcomings of our Bible reading. I know because I have experienced these and many others myself. Maybe you, too, see yourself in one or more of these diagnoses. Don’t think I intend to make Bible reading more complicated or to simply add more tasks. Use this list as a diagnostic tool to help you narrow in on one or two practical or spiritual ways that Bible reading is hindered and might be helped. This thing of God’s Word is “no trifle for you, but your very life” (Deuteronomy 32:47). May God do great things in us through his Word in the rest of 2013.